Prey
by Quay71
Summary: Spiders! Spiders Everywhere!


Title: Prey  
>Author: Quay71<br>Catagory: Old Republic  
>Keywords: None<br>Spoilers:  
>Summary: Spiders, spiders everywhere!<br>Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Lucasfilm, Ltd. No money is being made and no infringement is intended.

*Reviews are welcome!

Prey

_So, much for the element of surprise...spiders. Huge vicious mutated spiders! Genetically altered spiders. They were quick, fearless and undoubtedly smart._

I could see their strategic attacks on all Dausnia civilization.  
>Death of an entire planet done in by a breach of security and an experiment that had gone terribly wrong.<p>

I saw the men, women and children of this once peaceful world be brutally murdered by these out of control eight-legged monsters. These killers were in a feeding frenzy when the battalion of the 85th Infantry arrived. A task force of three hundred soldiers...they simply never returned.

I knew why now.

_Through all this bloody, red haze that lay ahead, I saw three cloaked and hooded Jedi emerge from a ship, only three. The fourth was brought out in a preservation tank..._

I awoke with a start, my forehead was damp with perspiration as were my clothes. I shivered as my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the small, shared bunkroom.

"It must've been quite a dream, Corliss." A very familiar voice broke through the ongoing hum of the retro-engines on the transport cruiser. "I was about to wake you."

Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn.

"I wish I could say it had been a dream." I replied as I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "The rumors of Dausnia are true, Qui-Gon."

"I figured as much," he answered after a short pause. "Spiders," he sighed, as he stood. "It could be worse."  
>Qui-Gon Jinn hadn't always been an optimistic man, there were times I'd seen him at his worst. Of course, those were the days when Master Tahl had died, Qui-Gon and she had had a special link between them, and some would say they shared some affection. I said it was love and it was, for I was very close to Tahl and she told me things that no other heard. But, that was in the past now.<p>

_It could be worse..._

And it was...I knew that much for certain, but it wasn't until I was stepping into the last remnants of sunlight on Dausnia that I realized just how much worse it truly was.

The five 85th Infantry transports were found shortly after arrival in a waist-high weeded meadow half a click outside the very forest that we were going to be heading into the next morning.

_The Red Zone._

Two of the transports had seemingly attempted escape, but the charred remains left in their wake, had proven otherwise.

I was impressed as five hundred heavy artillery Republic Forces stormed out of the transports in a wave. They wasted no time in creating a perimeter and digging trenches to lay pipe in for the firewall.

I was also impressed with their assortment of weapons, everything from flamethrowers to grenades to heavy assault weapons that I had no names for.

I stood watching passed the newly laid outer perimeter as the sun sunk slowly from sight, taking us into the vastness of night.

Qui-Gon had taken the Padawan's with him to oversee the search for possible survivors on the Infantry ships.

There would be none, I could feel it. The chill of death was all around.

A lot was counting on this mission to succeed.

Five Republic Engineers were being held captive by some estranged mad scientist, who had created these monstrosities and released them.

I didn't care for genetic engineering. My theory was, if it wasn't created that way to begin with, leave it alone.

I could feel the spiders out lurking in the darkness; they were watching us seeing our every move. I could hear them whispering, they were hungry. They craved blood and sustenance and our group was on the main course.

It was about then, that I felt the sharp warning through the Force. It was coming from the ship that Qui-Gon and the Padawan's were helping to inspect.

I bolted towards them and used the Force to enhance my running speed, since the ship was on the opposite side of the encampment.

It only took me a few moments and I had alarmed many of the soldiers standing around, they had followed me, but could no way keep up. I barreled up the landing ramp, with many soldiers in tow and felt shock, pain and inevitably the whisper death as I busted into one of the higher official chambers, lightsabre in hand.

As I entered, I gasped at the gruesome sight and skidded to a halt. One of the soldiers had been skewered through the gut by one of the deadly spiders.

Qui-Gon was already on it. With a flash of his lightsabre, he sliced through the deadly appendage that had pierced through the soldier and with one more quick thrust, slammed his sabre through the spider's grotesque head, killing it dead in its tracks.

I caught the soldier as he fell to the floor. Blood was everywhere; he was shaking and coughing up blood. "Easy, you're going be fine." I told him, knowing full well that he wasn't. He died in my arms a few minutes later.

_Poison._

The utterly stunned soldiers took the body away momentarily as they looked at the beast that had killed him.

Qui-Gon helped me to my feet as the last of the soldiers walked out.

"The Padawan's?" I asked quickly as I glanced around.

"Obi-Wan is with Sasha, I think she's sick."

I nodded, knowing full well she was. Sasha Brighton was my Padawan of five years; she was quick, energetic and knew what she wanted out of life. She was talented and good in a fight, but often after an over-excursion of anxiety or a fight, everything came spilling out...literally.

A few hours later our encampment was complete. The firewall was operational shooting flames thirty feet in the air.

It seemed that everyone's anxiety with the deadly spiders had relaxed once the firewall was in place, all...but the Jedi.

I shook my head as I and Sasha watched the merciless creatures move about just beyond the firewall from our perch on the lookout tower.

"What are they doing, Master?" Sasha's voice shuddered as she looked up at me.

"Looking for weakness in the perimeter, it seems." Force, these creatures were smart! "Let's get back to the tent. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon will be waiting." I walked over to the ladder and began my descent.

I huffed as I entered our assigned tent with my Padawan. "I don't like this, Qui-Gon." I stated as-a-matter-of-factly, while sliding off my Jedi robe.

"Those troops are much too relaxed, the ones other than the lookouts and the security, aren't even aware that those creatures are circling our camp."

Qui-Gon nodded in agreement as he rubbed his nicely trimmed beard. "Yes, I've spoken with Commander McClure on it. He firmly stated that with the firewall operational we aren't in any threat and that his soldiers needed more relaxation."

I scowled. "He's placing way too much confidence into that firewall." I shook my head and added grimly.  
>"There's more to these spiders than meets the eye. They are planning something, I can feel it. It's almost as if they are drawing our attention to the firewall."<p>

Sasha looked at me with her shy blue eyes. "Do you really thing they're going to try an attack through the firewall, Master?" She asked.

"Let's hope not, Padawan." I replied.

Eighteen-year-old, Obi-Wan Kenobi approached us." Suggestions are four hour shift intervals then, Master?" He asked in a kind manner.

I always liked Obi-Wan, he was good in a fight and a quick thinker. I thought Qui-Gon had made a good choice in choosing the young man.

"Sounds like a plan." The older Jedi answered as he looked at me. "We'll do the first watch, Corliss and we'll wake you around 2 am.

The two Jedi grabbed their robes and headed for the opening.

"Qui-Gon," I said as an image of my vision flashed through my mind.

_Only three of us will survive..._

"Yes?" he asked gently as the two turned and faced me.

I would not reveal my vision to them, only my concern. "Be careful out there, something is going on. I only wish, I knew what."

They took heed to my warning and nodded. "We shall, Corliss. Now, the two of you need to get some rest."

Getting to sleep through all the racket outside had been quite a challenge, but nonetheless, I had.

_I heard the scrapping of feet against...tiles? It was unlike anything I'd ever heard._

_Then there was a thump... and more scrapping and another thump.  
><em>  
><em>Screams of pain and immense fear hit me next on such a level I couldn't block it out.<em>

_It was followed by a sick suckling sound that turned my stomach into a chunk of ice. I didn't want to see it, I knew what was happening, but my insight refused to let me go._

_It came up through a torn place through concrete and...tile flooring, and I was seemingly flung._

_Right into the heart of their grisly domain, the very compound at which we were aiming to infiltrate._

_Masses of spiders were feeding off of a grotesque piles of still-moving, muffled-screaming, spun woven bodies at which I stood in the center of..._

_It was as if I had stepped into a living tomb, but how? Our firewall was up..._

A few seconds later, it came to me.

_Tunneling, digging, burrowing towards their need to feed. Long, hairy clawed appendages, furiously dug at Dausnia's hard-packed dirt, Closer...they were getting closer with every second that ticked by..._

"Corliss! Wake up!" I heard Qui-Gon's voice urge as I saw his piercing stare.

I was sitting straight up in my cot and felt as if I were going to die before I was finally able to gasp in a lungful of air.

"What is it? You know something!" His voice was a bit harsher than he meant to be, but it didn't matter.

"They're coming!" I told him just above a whisper. "The spiders are going to attack here...tonight!"

I saw the shocked looks on our Padawan's faces as they came up behind him.

"But…" it was all the Jedi Master could manage to utter as the Force warning slammed into us.

"Now!" I was barely able to yell as Qui-Gon's strength plowed into me, knocking the two of us clear over my cot.

His brute strength had darn near knocked the wind out of me as I saw my cot fly up into the air!

Clods of dirt, sod and weeds came flying up out of the ground with such a powerful force it was astounding!

Particles of dirt flew into my mouth and eyes as Qui-Gon jumped to his feet.

I came up sputtering and spitting and trying desperately to get my sight back. I heard lightsabres activating as I pulled mine blindly from my belt and instinctively switching it on and rolled to my left. I swung the sabre quickly making contact with the spider as it screeched loudly.

"Master!" I heard Obi-Wan yell.

Seconds later, my vision cleared and I saw Qui-Gon bury his lightsabre up to the hilt through the leathery hide of the eight-legged beast.

The arachnid was half Qui-Gon's height and it was powerful. It screeched and bucked against the Jedi Master's lightsabre, knocking him backwards.

With a quick glance as I stood, I had severed the appendage it used to suck its victims dry. Outside the tent, I could hear inhumane shrieks, bloodcurdling screams and rounds of artillery being fired.

Blam-Blam-Blam!

Crack-bang! Crack-bang! Crack-bang!

Aughhh!

BOOM! FLASH! BOOM!

A grenade...

The blast was severely close...even for a Jedi.

The canvas of our tent offered us no protection as torrents of shrapnel, disembodied spider and unfortunately...entrails came whipping at us at mock speed.

We dropped and lucky we did or we'd have been permanently body-pierced.

Some bits of shrapnel bit deeply into my leg, I winced in pain for a second, but I knew it wasn't life threatening. However, had I not the time to be concerned of the wet, nasty ooze that had splattered across my back, dripped down my neck and oozed into my hair or it would've thoroughly disgusted me. All I cared about was survival as the four of us got to our feet.

We were all alive, but our spider friend who attacked us was dead still, pierced deeply with shrapnel and nearly blown apart.

My hearing was temporarily gone from the explosion, but I could easily read the look of horror on Sasha's entrails'-streaked face.

Our fight was just beginning, we had to get to a transport or we were all dead.

Now, we were completely exposed to the horror which awaited us outside. It was a ghastly sight that turned my blood cold as ice. I nearly gagged, I think we all did.

The squads were still fighting with valor, but the wave of strength they once had was simmering down drastically.

Our side was losing the battle.

Some of the blood-thirsty spiders were snagging and dragging their prey towards them with sticky webs. Death awaited them as they were either pierced by its feeding appendage and drank alive or spun with webbing and drug off.

I knew what we had to do, if we wanted to stay alive.

_We must focus on the living and those who aren't yet in the clutches of death_. Qui-Gon's words struck me hard, but I knew it as well. His message was relayed to all of us and it would be a hard choice, but nonetheless...it had to be.

_May the Force be with us._

With our lightsabres drawn and an array of battle cries, we stormed into the battle zone.

I fell into the comfort of the Force and allowed it to guide my every move, my every deadly strike. It was as if the spiders were attacking in slow motion as I moved swiftly and steadily towards the transports.

What seemed to be thousands of legs, hundreds of heads and tons of entrails flew every which way as the four of us banded together. Along the way, we had picked up several downed soldiers by shearing the webs that would have ultimately brought them to their doom.

Together, we drove a path all the way to the transports, and it was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen.

A rush of relief overcame me as I saw one transport awaiting us with a surviving hoard of heavily armed combatants shooting down anything with more than two legs.

"Qui-Gon..." I began.

"I told them we were on our way." He told me with a relieved smile of his own.

With one last slash, we made a run for it.

The transports heavy armor and weaponry got the remains of the task force safely off the planet.

There was no whoop or holler from the remaining troops that had survived. But, more of a low, mournful surge of silence for those whom were facing the pit of death in such a grisly, unfathomable way.

My heart went out to the troops and their families, as we sat spread out in the lower cargo chamber.

Our side had been massacred and those images would remain imprinted in my mind for a very long time.

I relaxed finally and closed my weary eyes. The battle against the spiders had left me drained and weary as I clipped my sabre back to my belt.

"I'm going up to the command center to contact the council." Qui-Gon informed me and leaned closer. "I think, your Padawan is about to be ill."

I opened our link and sure enough Sasha's stomach was churning. I jumped up as quickly as my aching body would allow and helped Qui-Gon to his feet. He nudged Obi-Wan, who was sound asleep, while I held a hand down to my Padawan.

I spoke gently to her mind. _Come, Padawan let's get you to a fresher before you get ill._

_Sorry, Master._ Came her reply as she took my hand and I gently pulled her to her feet.

I knew it embarrassed her, so I said no more as the two of us followed our fellow Jedi up a flight of steps.

"Living quarters are that way." Qui-Gon advised me as we parted and went our separate ways.

As Sasha and I walked down the dimly lit corridor, I realized the last of my vision had been wrong. All four Jedi had survived and we were all safe and headed back to Coruscant.

I chuckled softly to myself as I looked at my ailing Padawan. "We're going to be fine." I said as I stepped up to the first door, but it was too late.

Sasha vomited right there...in the corridor, across my boots.

With one hand, I grabbed her arm. With the other, I hit the door button, ready to pull her in and get to the fresher.

Unfortunately, my good intentions...never took place. The next realm of events that flashed by perplexed me more than anything.

The feral screech that nearly blew my eardrums apart had done exactly as it had intended to do…distract me.

I froze for that single instant, still wondering why the Force had not alarmed me. Or had it and I completely misread the signs, that wasn't like me.

By now, it didn't matter, my hesitation cost me. The creature had gained what it wanted.

It took all I could do just to keep from screaming as searing pain slammed into me deeply just inches below my sternum and out my back. I had been too exhausted to react and it had me! Skewered me right through the middle!

I felt something warm gurgle up into my throat and couldn't help, but to cough. A surge of deep red blood splattered against the nearby durasteel bulkhead.

My eyes grew wide as excruciating pain ripped through my insides. I gasped as I looked into its multitude of eyelits and then I heard it. The surreal suction of the only thing it knew to do...feed!

My knees grew weak as I heard a scream, I wasn't even exactly sure who it had erupted from, me or my Padawan.

A familiar blue blade hissed past me and extinguished most of the pains intensity. I fell to my knees and looked to see my Padawan.

Sasha had taken over; she no longer held fear or anything near it. Her focus was to kill the beast and she did, single-handedly with a quick downward thrust through its head. I felt so proud at that very moment.

I couldn't stay upright any longer; my strength was leaving me with every raspy breath I took. Strong arms grabbed me as I began to fall, I cried out in pain as the feeding appendage was still plunged through me.

"Easy, Corliss." I heard Qui-Gon's soft voice." You're going be alright." I knew better as I looked up at him.

I heard the pounding of feet all around me.

"Check every room!" I heard someone yell.

"That's it, keep eye contact with me, Corliss. The medics are on their way." He urged.

I coughed again, spilling more blood from my mouth. "My vision was right...my friend...one of us was going to die..."

Sasha was right there by my side in an instant." No, you can't die, Master!" She was biting her lip hard to keep from crying.

There was nothing I could do to stop it, I was dying. My life was to be one with the Force and I was ready for its calling. I wasn't afraid.

I looked at Sasha one last time and smiled. "I am so proud of you...my Padawan...so...proud..." At that moment with my last breath, my eyes grew dark and my life faded into the great Lightness of the Force.

The End.


End file.
